Moment with Matthew

So I'm into my second trimester with this pregnancy, and according to the books and websites out there, that is supposed to be the fun trimester. You know - where you start to be less tired and stop puking?
Ha.
Very funny.
My day yesterday involved being sick in the morning, nauseous most of the day and falling asleep very early. I'm a full month into 2nd trimester. Seriously, people. I want my energy back!

But, I'm making the most of it.

One of the joys of going to bed early for me is the fact that Matthew and I have roughly the same bedtime. And, Matthew loves cuddling. Or at least being in the same bed as me. I've grown to love this routine. Mike helps Matt get ready for bed and reads him a couple stories while I'm getting ready for bed, and then Matt and I cuddle in bed.

He has a special night light in our room that he turns on, and we usually chat for a few minutes. It's that sleepy kind of conversation where you talk about your day. I hear about his daycare, about the friends he plays with. He talks about stuff like Transformers and bike riding. It's just easy casual conversation without the tv to distract us or other stuff going on.

Sometimes he then gets up and goes to sleep in his own bed. Sometimes he goes and asks mike for another story or some water. Sometimes he falls asleep. I usually fall asleep not long after. The other night he was cuddled in bed with me and about an hour after he fell asleep I woke up. He had rolled over and cuddled up with me. It was one of those beautiful moments that you cherish and know you have to appreciate.

I'll be the first to say that a lot of people don't agree with co-sleeping. I'm not sure that I would want Matthew in my bed all night every night. Mike moves him when he comes to bed. That works for us. Matt is totally okay going to bed in his own bed if we ask him to. And, sometimes he wants to sleep in our bed on one of the rare nights that I'm awake past 8pm.

The truth is, I'm not just okay with this arrangement. I love this arrangement. I'm not one of those people who wishes I had the baby years back. But, on nights when I look over and see my little boy, the child who is so full of life and energy and craziness, lying peacefully next to me, I'm happy. And, I'm filled with so much love and appreciation. It's pretty amazing.

Sure, we need to worry about setting precedents and all of that. But, I just am not worried about that right now. For now it's one moment at a time. And, if I can get some love and joy out of those moments I most definitely will.

My Mathemetician

We're discovering something kind of neat about Matthew lately.
He's really into numbers.
He loves counting and telling us numbers. If he sees a number (i.e. #1) on a parking spot he always has to stop to tell us which number it is. If he sees a number comprised of 2 numbers (i.e. #98) he will say 9 then 8 and ask us what number it is.
And lately, he has been asking us math questions. He continuously asks what "x+x" is. He starts with easy ones that he kind of knows. Like, he'll ask 1+1 and then we will help him figure it out. And then he'll start to ask harder things like 25 + 8.
It's like he's absolutely fascinated by how it all works.
I don't exactly think he's a math genius. After all, he can't figure the questions out. But, it's pretty neat to see the wheels spinning, and to find out what his next question will be.
The weird thing to me is that he has no interest in letters. He knows some, obviously, from daycare. He knows that his letter is M, and he knows a few others. But, for him it's all about the numbers.
It makes me wonder if this is somehow foreshadowing what his interests will be as he gets older, or if it's just the way he's learning.
Personally, I was reading when I was around his age. And, I've always loved reading and writing. I believe this started very young. Of course my parents encouraged me by reading to me, but I really wanted to learn for myself.
I'm not about to decide that this should make him some sort of banker/investment analyst, etc - but I am looking forward to seeing if he continues on this math fascination or not.

I Love Halloween!

I love Halloween! I can't help it. It's so much fun.Pumpkin on Left I carved - Pumpkin on Right Matt did (with help)

I think this was the most fun one so far when it came to Matthew understanding the idea behind it. He was ready for Halloween ... so ready!
We started the day with our annual tradition of going to our neighbouring town's Tiny Tot's Parade with Matt's cousin (and my sister). It's a bit of insanity, but basically you go from store to store collecting candy. This year I thought ahead and brought Matt's "vacation bracelet" or a wrist harness. It was the best idea ever. Matt didn't have to hold my hand, and I managed to keep track of him the entire time.
Genius.

The highlight of Mike's day was after the tiny tots parade we picked up Subway for Mike and brought it to his work. Matthew got to go in and show off his Halloween costume. It was a treat for us to go to daddy's office at lunch time. Obviously, I'm usually at work and Matt is usually at daycare, so we have never actually stopped by for lunch. I have to admit that the combo of Matt being tired from the trick or treating plus hyper from tons of candy did not lead us to stay for a long time - but it was still fun! (and it turned out that many people at daddy's office wore costumes ... hmmm .... Next year I think he may go dressed up)
After a 2 hour nap (seriously, how great was it that I had an afternoon nap on a Wednesday) Matt and I got up and carved our Jack O Lanterns. I let Matt use a little knife under close supervision and he had so much fun. I think his pumpkin was nicer than mine. Oh well! It was fun to carve.

Notice the Knife ... Good parenting!

After all of that it was off to pick up daddy, drop him at home and then go to Grandma and Grandpa's for dinner.Lightning McGrandpa

Matt was thrilled because Grandma came trick or treating with us. We went to several houses. One of the highlights was when some girls (maybe about 12 or 13) were so taken by Matt coming and telling them that he loved their costumes that they took candy out of their bags and gave it to him. It was so sweet. And, it kind of made my night to see such kindness!


You may have noticed the tag at the bottom of my post today. I have signed up for NaBloPoMo where I have agreed to post every single day for the month of November. Wish me luck!

HAPPY HALLOWE'EN!

Our First Hallowe'en!
(my first sewing project also!)

Last year



And this year's "craft"! Matthew helped.

Not Lightning McQueen ... Lightning McMatthew

More pictures to come ...
Happy Halloween Everyone!

No More Panicking ...

We have a Lightning costume.
Thanks to everyone who so awesomely went out of their way to help - Amy who designed a costume I could craft, Lisa and Darlene who were willing to go shopping for me (cause I was up to my elbows in pumpkins) and of course Darlene who found the costume.
Finding that costume was exciting in and of itself. But more on that later.

Eleventh Hour Panic

We are almost set for Hallowe'en.
We've made treat bags for all of matt's daycare friends. We've bought our candy. We've decorated our house. We have the pumpkin ready for carving tonight.
I've taken the day off work tomorrow and made plans with my sister.
And most importantly we have a costume for Matt.
It's a python costume. He fell in love with it instantly (after I said no to the Cinderella costume). He has talked about it for a month. He has shown it off to his grandparents and some friends.
But ...
Today when I went in to wake him up he was crying. It turns out that he doesn't like snakes - thank God cause I hate them - and he REALLY wants to be Lightning McQueen.
Big surprise.
We asked him at least 20 times if he wanted to be Lightning.
But then he opted out so we did nothing about it.
And now today I have to track down a Lightning McQueen costume. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
Obviously my first choice will be to try the Eaton Centre because they have a disney store. But, even if they have the costume I need to somehow get the costume. Today is a crazy busy day at work. We have a big even that I'm helping to run. There is maybe an hour in my day when I'm not working on that event. But I have other work to accomplish in that hour.
Hopefully I can call ahead and get them to hold it - and I can get there and back quickly.
Wish me luck!
If I don't find that costume I may have a very disappointed little boy on my hands.